The only CD of C. Day-Lewis poetry available

This CD collects seventeen of the best known and best loved poems by the former Poet Laureate C. Day-Lewis, including “Walking Away” and “The House Where I Was Born”.

The poems are read by his widow, the late Jill Balcon, who introduces each poem. The collection ranges from C. Day-Lewis’ pastoral lyrics to the more political work of the 1930s and his more reflective and personal work of his later years.

C. Day-Lewis, with WH Auden, Stephen Spender and Louis MacNeice, was one of the key poets of the 1930s. After the war he became a popular broadcaster. In the fifties he was Professor of Poetry at Oxford University and was later made a Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature. He was Chair of the Arts Council Literature Panel and a member of the Irish Academy of Letters. C. Day-Lewis was Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972

Jill Balcon’s audio-books ranged from Carol Ann Duffy’s The World’s Wife to Claire Tomalin’s Samuel Pepys. Her television and film credits ranged from The Sweeney to Derek Jarman’s films. Her 60 years as an actress were celebrated by a BBC play, Deadheading Roses, which also featured her son, Daniel Day-Lewis.